I had the pleasure of chatting with the members of The Good Mad last week. You may recognize them or their music from their recent appearances on ABC Family's The Lying Game. Their music can be described as a pleasant blend of Country and Indie and their latest music has fans buzzing. We chatted with Allie, Andy and Adam about their sound, their television debut, and their dream tour. Check it out!
PopCityLife: Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us!
The Good Mad: Sure! Thanks for asking us questions! *laughs*
PCL: How did you guys get together to form the band?
TGM: Well, Adam and Andy were in a band called Mr. Adventures which was kind of indie rock music. I started playing violin with them and we did that for a year and a half. Then that band parted ways and we got together this past summer.
PCL: I really love your unique sound, especially as you said with the violin. How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn't heard it before?
TGM: It's part of this new folk generation. I think that's getting more credibility these days. It's an earthy, folk-americana sound. We'll work on our self assessment!
PCL: Recently you guys have been appearing on The Lying Game. How did that come about?
TGM: The creator of the show came to me and said "We're going to give you a music storyline" and I was like "Sweet!" They were actually planning on hiring a local band. I was like "You should listen to my band! I like our music and maybe you will too." That's basically how it came to be. The boys flew out and we recorded some songs. It's been a lot of fun.
PCL: How did you come up with the name?
TGM: There's this quote in On The Road by Jack Kerouac that says "The only ones for me are the mad ones." Adam and I were taking a walk in Austin one day and that quote was painted on the side of a bridge and we thought that was pretty cool.
The difference is there's the psychotic kind of mad and then there's the good kind of crazy which I think all of us have in us ya know?
PCL: What was it like seeing yourselves performing on tv for the first?
TGM: Weird.
Hilarious.
Surreal.
It almost doesn't compute. If we had seen each other in a fake band playing songs that weren't ours we would be like "Oh, there's us acting." But since it is our music and we are a band it's kind of funny.
PCL: How has the support from fans been since appearing on the show?
TGM: We're getting a lot of good, positive feedback on our YouTube page and Facebook and Twitter.
We had a show the other day where 5 kids showed up just from hearing about it on Twitter. It was a first for us where it wasn't just our friends or friends of our friends. It was great.
PCL: Do you all enjoy acting? Is that something you would like to focus on in the future or would you prefer to work on music?
TGM: (Allie) Ultimately I think all of our goal is to make music but I would definitely like to keep acting. I've learned a lot about myself and human behavior. This show has opened my eyes in a lot of ways. I think we all just want to go with the flow.
(Adam) If it feels right, if a situation presents itself and we're ready for it then we'll do it.
PCL: Do you guys have any plans to tour in the future?
TGM: Not as of right now. There's definitely plans, not necessarily laid down yet. Allie is probably going to go back to film another season of The Lying Game. We'll be a long distance band then so we're making music when we're together. Hopefully we'll get to do a little of the West Coast.
PCL: Is there anyone you would love to tour with if you could tour with anybody?
TGM: Anybody? Arcade Fire! We listened to the Civil Wars album for the first time because we've gotten some comparisons. They're super cool.
PCL: What's next for you guys? Do you have any plans to release an album?
TGM: I think we are gonna try to record an EP over this hiatus.
We want to do something concrete. A full, little musical compilation of The Good Mad before Allie goes back.
PCL: Is there anything you'd like to say to your fans?
TGM: Thanks for being awesome supporters and giving us feedback which really helps. We love hearing from you. Time doesn't always allow us to be on Twitter all day long but we really appreciate all of you.
Music is such a big luxury for every person but to actually be on other people's radars or in their earphones as they're walking down the street makes us really proud.
Once again, I'd like to thank the members of The Good Mad for taking the time to answer some fan questions. Be sure to follow the band on twitter here and check out their website for information on how to purchase their latest songs.
Interview by Noelle Gruber
